Are these OVO text messages and calls genuine?

I was chatting with OVO on Friday and they confirm my account was closed with NO DEBIT £0.00 balance. some time ago. And these messages are still coming.

In that case, call 0800 069 9831 to resolve this one. They'll fix it

Hey @Rolon11,

Any update on this?

I rcvd a call from “OVO” AGAIN THIS MORNING telling me that my account is in arrears £XX while I confirmed with them on chat an hour earlier that all is cleared ! SO CONFUSED!

As mentioned, this feels like something the Collections Team need to dig into. If you call 0800 069 9831, they can investigate.

If they’re satisfied you owe nothing at all for any account, they’ll terminate any further debt collection related actions.

Hi @Rolon11 

You could give ovo  a link to this thread in case it helps. Then they can clearly see the messages you are getting. It is strange the ovo staff can't see the arrears when you contact them. It is unusual but not unknown for final bills to be reissued months later, there are examples like this on the forum, so it would be worth asking about this. I would ask ovo to email you a copy of the current final bill if I were you. 

Here is a link to this thread. 

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/my-account-140/ovo-scam-txt-messages-and-calls-15749

1. When did you close your account?

2. How have ovo contacted you about the "arrears"

- text

- email

- phone call

3. Can you still log onto your old account? 

@Emmanuelle_OVO  I see three different telephone numbers for OVO in Rolon’s screenshots. They are all free-to-call numbers, I think, as opposed to the ‘normal’ one which costs people like me 65p a minute to sit and wait on (which is one reason why I’ve never tried it). 

Are these for three different departments? Which ones, if so? If I call the wrong one, will whoever answers be able to divert my call to the right one? 

08004084724
08000699831
08000472862

Good spot @Firedog 

The normal collections number the moderators regularly quote is this one. 

08000699831

This is also the one I regularly post

It is also on the ovo website although not on the standard contact us page. 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/payment-support

If you’re being charged 65p a minute to call an 03 number, you’re being scammed by your telephone provider. In fact, 65p on a BT Payphone would get you at least an HOUR of calltime for 03 numbers!

I’ve spoken to the Collections Team about these numbers. They do (naturally) recognise the 0800 069 9831 number, but not the others. They want you to get in touch directly on 0800 069 9831 and they’ll dig deeper.

All three of those numbers have been reported as scammers. If you google ‘who is ‘ and the number. All purporting to be OVO and asking for bank card details.

At the same time however, my analysis of the links confirms that they do belong to OVO.

It’s impossible for those subdomains to be used by anyone else without OVO’s permission

So I see - I must be more vigilant! We know, though, that 08000699831 is the official number for the Collections people. It may not be surprising that some people regard it as a scam.

This must be a pretty sophisticated arrangement if it is indeed fraudulent; the text messages appear to have come from the same short code, since they have ended up associated with the same contact in Rolon’s list by the looks of it. I presume it costs the scammer a fair amount to set up and operate a free-to-call account, so it must be paying off.

Perhaps OVO should be contacting Virgin Media to enquire about the origin of these messages. We’ll probably find out that the numbers belong to tattooed enforcers in black leathers contracted by OVO to collect ...

I just tested the other two numbers using one of my burner phones - one that can’t be traced back to me at all (I have my reasons for it).

The IVR that responds appears to be running on Genesys Cloud which is the phone system OVO uses for both inbound and outbound calls from official numbers. Genesys are pretty decent at their anti-scam protections iirc, which (when combined with other sources) makes me think these are possibly legitimate.

If this is OVO asking for a bill to be settled they’re going about it in a rather suspicious way. I’m not sure many people would just phone the number and hand over their card details.

I will let you know asap if “OVO” CALLS ME AGAIN THIS WEEK for the same account debt:) thanks for your replies , it just scares me all those things , It was interesting that the second phone today they told me they dont have my email address but they can confirm which day my DD is being taken!

Hey @Rolon11,

Sorry for the issues you’re having,

The number I have for the collections team is 0800 069 9831. I’d advise contacting the Collections Team directly about the alleged arrears, instead of waiting for them to call you.  As the other numbers listed I don’t recognise. 

I’m going to ask about these numbers internally as I know we’ve changed the collections process slightly, i’ll report back to this topic. 

OK GUYS,  yesterday on chat to OVO help confirming my account is closed with £0.00 balance, today again txt message came through. What is this all? How am I suppose to believe anybody dealing with this?

Hey @Rolon11,

Please call the collections team. they’ll be able to confirm if there is an arrears and whether this messages are Scam messages. 

Hi, I am not even an OVO customer and I have just received similar text. Surely this got to be a scum?

Good morning @Balich77 ,

Please call OVO’s Collections Team about this on 0800 069 9831. They’ll help you with this one.

In my case it turned out that they opened two accounts in my name, I didnt know about the first account as I thought I have only one so they had some outstanding balance of £20 where they keep calling me about. Everytime I called them and gave my phone number they kept txting me they couldnt find anything and only after some correspondence arrived we realised the account number we were under.

THINK  “spoofing possible”

always call them from their website number and dont trust when they call you , say you will call them shortly to their number from www…

Hey @Balich77,

This is a mysterious one! 

Your details may have been found through trace and search. 

Please keep us posted once you’ve spoken to collections. It may help other customers in a similar situation.

Balich77 wrote:

Hi, I am not even an OVO customer and I have just received similar text. Surely this got to be a scum?

 

We have a rental property and this was a genuine text after all. I had an outstanding bill that i had to settle between tenants. Complete forgot that the property was with OVO.

Thanks for the update! Mystery solved 🕵